Since Erin Roberts was a child, she knew that she wanted to be an educator. She studied in the inaugural cohort for the bachelor’s in early childhood education in the College of Education. She is currently teaching in the school district where she completed her student internship. She knew she wanted to be a coaching teacher to give back to the students and the college that helped build her career.
“My internship experience made me a teacher,” says Roberts. “I know what an impact that made on my teaching, and I wanted to shape that experience for future USC students. Because I began my teaching where I interned, it was a smooth transition for me.”
Roberts has now hosted student interns in her classroom in three different schools. She has become very passionate about creating positive environments for her interns. She knew the Coaching Academy could help her grow in her leadership and impact future educators in a more impactful way.
“During my own internship, I realized the importance of building relationships within a school,” says Roberts. “I love helping prepare future educators for their own classrooms.”
Roberts was also excited to use the experience to help other coaching teachers in her school. She knows that preparing for an intern can be daunting on top of all that educators manage in their classrooms. She knew the Coaching Academy could help her assist her fellow educators in their own preparation.
“The Coaching Academy totally changed me professionally,” says Roberts. “I built relationships with amazing educators. We grew in ways that I don’t think any of us could have imagined. We have become stronger coaches in all aspects because of these relationships.”
Erin also faced a new experience professionally last year when she mentored a first-year educator who came from a different career path.
“Everything I was learning in this academy directly impacted how I mentored this new educator,” says Roberts. “I learned different styles of coaching from facilitative to directive. I learned types of questions, observations and how to use data to inform our meetings. It truly changed how I approached that mentorship.”
Roberts is preparing for a career switch of her own. She will begin as an instructional coach across two schools this fall. She attributes her confidence in her new role to her academy experience.
“I truly feel like I can now coach my colleagues, and that is a daunting undertaking” says Roberts. “My coworkers have the same degree as me. I have taught with them for years. This academy prepared me for my next step.”
One of the sessions that really helped Roberts was centered on observational questions and question stems. This type of questioning is used to help interns think critically about their work without their coaching educator commenting directly on their performance. Different questions empower different observations.
“We went over empowering, authentic, respectful and inviting questions,” says Roberts. “This activity helped me really plan for my coaching conversations. I know when I enter these discussions with student interns, mentees or colleagues, I can craft inviting questions and help people feel empowered to share. This becomes a discussion instead of a one-sided critique.”
Roberts shared that she realized she often struggles to truly listen or that she listens to respond because she wants to quickly get students to the right answer. By taking a moment to be an engaged listener and guide students to think on their own, she’s helping them solve future problems independently.
“That was really powerful,” says Roberts. “It is not always our purpose or what students need from us. Helping students think on their own will contribute much more to their future success.”
Roberts shares that Coaching Academy founder, Shelly Curcio, Ph.D. , demonstrated the importance of these conversations when she visited Roberts’ school for a coaching conversation. Curcio sat in on Roberts’ talk with her intern and guided a teaching reflection.
“I was trying to apply all that I had learned,” says Roberts. “I received real time feedback and saw how Curcio helped my student clarify some concepts that she had struggled with.”
Roberts was touched that Curcio took the time to visit her school and help her individually. She feels ready and prepared to serve as that touchpoint for her fellow educators and interns. She says that even with her National Board Certification, a master’s degree in education and years of professional development, this was as a profound experience.
“This is some of the best professional growth I’ve seen in myself,” says Roberts. “It’s an opportunity I would take again and something I will be forever thankful for.”